Musharraf escapes kill bid, 14 killed
Thursday 25 December 2003, 17:24 Makka Time, 14:24 GMT The attack is the second attempt on Musharraf's life this month Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has narrowly survived a second assassination bid this month. Suicide car bombers attacked his motorcade on Thursday, killing at least 12 besides themselves. Officials said the two cars used in the attack were driven out of two petrol stations just 200 metres from a bridge on a main road in the city of Rawalpindi where Musharraf escaped a bombing on 14 December. The powerful blasts scattered debris and body parts over a wide area and damaged the windscreen of the president's armoured Mercedes, but he was unhurt, they said. "The President and all his companions are safe and sound," said Major-General Shaukat Sultan. An aide said Musharraf, who had been heading home, was "in good spirits". Public appearance However, Musharraf who came on television immediately after the 14 December attempt had not yet appeared in public more than six hours after the second attempt. "It was an assassination attempt," said Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed. "Two suicide attackers in two cars tried to hit the president's vehicle. God has saved him. Three cars of the cavalcade, including the president's car, were damaged." Musharraf escaped the previous kill attempt on the same road Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Rauf Chaudary said at least 14 people had been killed, including at least two bombers, and 18 people were wounded. A soldier and three policeman were among the dead. Some police officers in the motorcade were hurt and a diversionary open-topped Mercedes at the tail end of the motorcade was blown across the road by the blasts. Soldiers and police cordoned off the area on the road connecting Rawalpindi with the capital Islamabad. The route is used almost daily by Musharraf to drive to and from the capital. The presidential convoy was returning from a conference at the Ministry of Higher Education in the headquarters of the Islamic Conference Organization. Sultan said it was too early to determine who might be responsible for the attack. The attack has come a few days before a regional summit in Islamabad due to be attended by India's Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. India condemned the attack. Resentment Jasim Taqi, a Pakistani writer and political analyst told Aljazeera.net the attempted assassinations were related to Musharraf's stance against Jihad groups and his concessions to the US and India. Taqi said the president's policy had generated resentment in the army and organisations backed by the Pakistani Intelligence. They fear Musharraf might sacrifice Kashmir and the nuclear programme due to pressure from New Delhi, he said. "Two suicide attackers in two cars tried to hit the president's vehicle. God has saved him" Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, Information Minister, Pakistan Musharraf's enemies like al-Qaida, other hardline groups and among sections in the army have increased, the analyst pointed out. The army has said it will not investigate senior Pakistani scientists suspected to have leaked nuclear secrets to Iran. Al-Qaida has repeatedly threatened to assassinate Musharraf and has also called on the Pakistani tribes to do the same, Taqi said, recalling the public call of the network's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri to kill the president. The attempted assassination of Musharraf is the fourth since he assumed power in Pakistan, two of the attempts occurred in Karachi and the other two in the military capital, Rawalpindi, our correspondent said. The attack came a day after Musharraf agreed to step-down as army chief by the end of 2004, ending a political stalemate that had paralysed parliament and stalled this nation's return to democracy. The Mulindwas Communication Group "With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] **********Keep Hope Alive!!!************* Win upto =N=150,000.00 ... Essay Competition 'HOPE PROJECT" ...see the ===>>> http://www.iseehope.org Nigeria arise to rebuild Hope ++++++++++++++ Nigerians for Nigeria, rebuilding a Country where No man is oppressed. - --- Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] **********Keep Hope Alive!!!************* ****Internet Solution**** A one stop solution for your web site. It is fully Nigerian, with Hausa, Yorub and Ibo Alphabets and so many resources easy to use and a 24/7 support access. Why go further when a Nigerian, try this one you wont go elsewhere. I ve my signsture to it... PJ Adamz Abuja Nigeria. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/TTwplB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/abujaNig/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -------------------------------------------- This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug